Judge Says Supreme Court Should Hear Davis Appeal

Associated Press

Updated: 4 years ago.

A U.S. District Judge says that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals "lacks appellate jurisdiction" to review the Troy Davis case. Davis has spent nearly 20 years on death row for the 1989 slaying of an off duty police officer. (Photo courtesy Orlando Montoya).

A judge is trying to block a Georgia death row inmate who claims he was wrongly convicted from appealing to a federal panel in Atlanta.

U.S. District Judge William Moore said in an order this month that Troy Anthony Davis should appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court instead of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Moore's order said that the appeals panel "lacks appellate jurisdiction" to review the case.

Davis has spent nearly 20 years on death row for the 1989 slaying of an off-duty police officer and has long claimed new evidence would clear his name if a court gave him a chance to hear it.

The Supreme Court in 2009 granted Davis a hearing to put the claim to a test, but Moore ruled in August that the evidence presented by Davis' attorneys wasn't strong enough to prove he's innocent.